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Chausie

At up to thirty pounds the Chausie weighs in with medium size dogs like a miniature Schnauzer, making them one of the largest domestic cats. But that size comes from wild roots. The Chausie like the Savannah and the Bengals are hybrids and that means that they are part wildcat. This is a short haired breed with minimal grooming needs but not recommended for families with small children. However they’ll fit into an experienced cat family that is able to provide for this social and active breed.

Temperament

Chausie comes from the Latin name of a jungle cat roaming the swamps of south-central Asia. Starting in the nineteen nineties, breeders cross bred these jungle cats with Abyssianians creating a hybrid cat.
The Chausie may be a highly social cat with majestic wild looks, but this feline still lives by the law of the jungle and you would need to think twice about bringing the Chausie into a home with small children or delicate objects.
This is not a cat that will do well being left alone for hours a day,

Appearance

The Chausie has large ears and an elongated cougar like snout. They are amazingly athletic and this athleticism is related to their hind legs being slightly longer than the front legs.

Chausies often have a unique grizzled tabby coat pattern and a shorter tail contrasting with its long body.

More About The Chausie

The Chausie is descended from the Egyptian Jungle Cat (Felix chaus), a breed of feline that lived in the wild and has been historically recorded to have been around during the ancient times when Pharaohs still ruled the land.

The incidence of interbreeding between Jungle Cats and domestic cats increased significantly in the 1960’s when the demand for exotic pets like tigers, leopards and bobcats became more mainstream. In the 1990’s, however, these breeding programs focused on the crossing of the Jungle Cat to Domestic Shorthairs and Abyssinians. The results of these pairings are the predecessors of the modern Chausies.

In 1995, The International Cat Association (TICA) awarded the breed Foundation Registration status, which was eventually raised to Evaluation status seven years later. TICA promoted it to Advanced New Breed in 2003 and this breed was given a Championship status on May 1, 2013.

Care

The Chausies short coat is relatively easy to care for, needing just a weekly brushing.

Although their coat is low maintenance you will still need to brush the cat once a week to make sure it doesn’t excessively shed in your house or get hair balls.

Chausies are considered healthy but you should avoid canned food with any grains and vegetables as they are unable to break down plant matter and further along the digestive process the plant matter inflames the intestines disrupting the absorption of vitamins and minerals leading to chronic malnourishment.

Chausies require a gluten-free, all meat diet, but are otherwise very healthy